Florida Governor Ron DeSantis tears into AP for 'smear' story saying his office is bullying reporters over story trying to link his use of Regeneron to political donors

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday accused the Associated Press of running a 'smear' story against him that could cost lives after the news organization said a member of his staff had harassed one of its reporters.

He said the AP deserved the 'blowback' it received. 

His intervention came after his aide Christina Pushaw’s Twitter account was suspended for violating rules on abusive behavior after she urged her followers to target Florida reporter Brendan Farrington.

'Drag them,' she wrote apparently in response to an article headlined, 'DeSantis top donor invests in COVID drug governor promotes.'

On Friday, incoming AP CEO Daisy Veerasingham wrote to DeSantis asking him to end her 'harassing behavior.'

DeSantis made his response clear with an open letter.  

'I assumed your letter was to notify me that you were issuing a retraction of the partisan smear piece you published last week. Instead, you had the temerity to complain about the deserved blowback that your botched and discredited attempt to concoct a political narrative has received,' he wrote. 

'This ploy will not work to divert attention from the fact that the Associated Press published a false narrative that will lead some to decline effective treatment for COVID infections.'

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis hit back angrily after a member of his staff was accused of harassing a reporter with the Associated Press. He said the news agency got what it deserved after trying to smear him and his administration

DeSantis made his fury clear with a letter sayin the AP 'deserved blowback' for a botched attempt to discredit him and his administration

He said the story used an 'inflammatory' headline designed to 'smear' him.

'While the public's trust in corporate outlets like the AP is at historic lows, there is no doubt that some will decline to seek life-saving treatment as a result of the AP's inflammatory headline,' he wrote.

Farrington reported that a hedge fund of a top DeSantis donor had invested millions of dollars in a monoclonal antibody treatment Regeneron. 

DeSantis has been touting the treatment throughout the state.

'Early treatment with these monoclonal antibodies – Regeneron and others – have proven to radically reduce the chances that somebody ends up being hospitalized,' he said recently at a treatment site in Orlando. 

'Reducing hospital admissions has got to be a top priority.'

Pushaw retweeted his article with a request to 'drag them' in a now-deleted post.

She also retweeted a message that said “Light. Them. Up.” in reference to the AP. 

She later said she had no violent intent and removed the message so it would not be misunderstood. 

Brian Carovillano, AP’s vice president and managing editor, said Pushaw’s tweets were particularly egregious because she is a public servant.

Pushaw's Twitter account was locked for 12 hours after she hit back at a reporter who looked into a donor's ties to COVID-19 treatments

Pushaw took some delight in tweaking AP further by tweeting out her boss's letter with the line: 'Was it worth it?'

'There’s pushback, which we fully accept and is a regular facet of being a political reporter or any kind of reporter, and there’s harassment,' Carovillano told the AP. 

'This is not pushback, it’s harassment. It’s bullying. 

'It’s calling out the trolls at somebody who is just doing his job and it’s putting him and his family at risk.'

Farrington later said he received threats and hate messages about the story. 

'I’ll be fine, I hope. Freedom. Just please don’t kill me,' he tweeted. 

In her letter, Verasingham said the aide's behavior could incite physical attacks and had no place in a democracy.

'While we can disagree about stories, it is unacceptable and dangerous for a public official to encourage the systemic bullying of journalists,' Veerasingham wrote. 

Pushaw tried to take a victory lap after her employer's letter was published, tweeting out a highlight that included: 'Was it worth it?'